Scene #1727: Moonbase Alpha

Owner	Pose
Starbound Flotilla	George has really been pulling out all the stops to get this place going. Arriving here is fairly easy, if you work with the Flotilla itself; securing teleportation to one of their ships and then subsequently down to the surface of the moon is simple, as would be landing on it if you're that sort. An extensive docking apparatus is already set up in the middle of an artificially carved basin, a massive circular arrangement with huge blocky sections of well-engineered airtight hull foundation already built or in the process of being built. The place is airless, meaning that you ought to have EVA gear or one of the complimentary oxygen nanoskins to wander around. George, for his own paranoid benefit, has both. He's taking a break, lounging around in the teleportation transit reception area, where those who accept the Flotilla's help will find themselves appearing in a flash of red light. Getting here from the ship landing area would be fairly simple as well. Like the rest of the structure, it's very sparse. No decoration, no direction, no electronics or machines or furniture, nothing like that. It's all foundation. But it's practically done! The clean, brushed steel has already all come together, it just needs filling.
Artyom W. Valodjn	Artyom has never been to space. Galianda is a realm whose scope is limited to the furthest orbits of its plates. Beyond that is the realm of Bismarck- a place unknown to the children of the first gods. Even Chocobo is not really a moon as such things would be understood in other worlds- its true nature is far more bizarre. His response to the opportunity to travel to some distant celestial body was... mixed. On the one hand, it flipped all the right switches in the part of his psyche that craved adventure. On the other, it would be so far removed from anything he has ever experienced that he found himself growing apprehensive about the trip. Red light shoots down from somewhere high over the planetoid. Several dozen bolts blast onto the teleportation zone in quick succession. The first to emerge is someone George would recognize as Artyom simply due to his size. Though many the others who arrive rival him in height, while a number of the others are shorter by various degrees. Some are merely average, others look almost cubical. Artyom wobbles a bit on his landing. His senses extend down into the deep, dead moon and find something... missing. There's no life in this soil- but at least it is earth. After a fashion, anyway. "George," Artyom nods as he approaches the other man, "I've brought what has been arranged."
Juno Eclipse	Space. The final frontier! Well, not for everyone. For some societies, interstellar travel is pretty bog-standard, or at least commonplace enough that nobody really cares. Starships, shuttles, and other craft are pretty ordinary things that most worlds are going to have access, or at least regular exposure to. The mercenary pilot and smuggler known to the Flotilla by the callsign of Blackout has made her way here pretty quickly, all told, aboard the sleek dark transport with its odd asymmetrical pylons and sleek, almost predatory profile. Its engines are a whine as it settles into the starport. Moments later comes Blackout herself, wearing what looks like comfortable garb for a smuggler, and what looks like some sort of EVA gear, although it's perhaps not as clunky as some -- less bulky, at least, with a suite of various hydrospanners and other tools strapped around the waist and over the chest. One gloved hand reaches up to flick at a control near the visor. A focused flashlight beam clicks on, throwing stark white light over the starport's brushed steel panels. "...Not bad," she proclaims, for the voice is definitely a woman's; all neat, clipped tones and professionality. She sounds just a little distracted, though, studying the architecture even as she addresses the Flotilla representative. One suit-gloved hand raises. "Mister... George, was it?"
Starbound Flotilla	"Friend big rock!" Biteblade calls out, They poke their head through one of the un-grated air-regulatio shafts on the ceiling. "Hi! Welcome to moon! Don't look outssside, firssst time see ssspace, caussse lot of dissruptive endorphin, or sssometimes nihilisssm." Biteblade is very cheerful about this!!! "S'what people call me!" George says, brightly, to Juno. "George, all the name either of us need probably, nice to meet ya Blackout." His solar shield is down on his helmet, meaning one can't much see the face behind... He does take the handshake though, and offers much the same to Artyom. "Sweet." He says, simply. "We'll run supplies back and forth to them. I built this to spec, they shouldn't have trouble figuring out what goes where. Seft and Pavo are space-side, those two will get you going as far as getting the cargo here. Mind your step, we're at a fraction of a G here. You want me to show you around, or you rather talk shop?" Biteblade drops from the roof down slowly to Blackout. "Hi! Heard from jerk fish, heard from metal lady friend, you might want to join Flotilla! Get jobsss, make money, get ssstuff. Right? Hear isss good for move lotsss of things, sssneaky, or fight in ssspace. Would be good for helping!"
Artyom W. Valodjn	Artyom inclines his head at Juno as she arrives. He's not entirely unfamiliar with working with smugglers or anything of the sort in general. While they're ostensibly unlawful, sometimes you do need things moved about... discretely. "Good evening," he says, bobbing his head once. And then there's a Biteblade. "Ah, Biteblade--" Nihilism? Disruptive endorphines? But it's space! You see space all the time when you look up at the sky at night time. Is it that different up here? "I'll keep that in mind," he says, playing on the safe and unwilling-to-experience-an-existential-crisis side, "Is that something that happens frequently...?" He looks to George, then, and gives his hand a firm shake. Perhaps a bit more firm than he intends, though. "Good to hear," he says, before giving a signal to the workforce behind him. They seem to recognize some meaning in it, and begin filing out to do whatever must be done. Some of them seem to be materializing various tools from what look like small crystalline objects. "They'll get to work immediately. If there's any significant earth that must be shifted, I'll probably need to go assist them, but otherwise," he shrugs, "I'm mostly here as a supervisor. What's a G?" He says, then promptly takes a step too hard and hops a half foot off the ground. Artyom produces a grunt of surprise. "...Interesting," he says as he lands, clearly not used to weighing so little, "For now, why not show me around, and we can discuss business as we go?"
Rory White	"G is short for gravity! Or rather, the intensity of gravity's effect. Objects 'fall' because of gravity. It's why your feet stay on the ground and don't go floating off into the sky. But some places have more or less than the normal amount of gravity. You might be able to leap ten meters or be unable to stand." This explanation is offered helpfully by a dog-sized robotic... THING that's wheeling around the compound's foundations! It has no face, just a bunch of sleek black arms. But it's talking just fine (using whatever Radio everyone else is in this environment) with a young woman's clear and enthusiastic voice. A few moments later, after the robot-thing's stopped, the faceless voice adds, "Actually 'normal' is misleading. One 'G' is based on Earth gravity, which strangely seems to be the average through most worlds. Objectively there isn't a 'normal.'" This girl likes being accurate.
Juno Eclipse	"Mmhmm." The helmeted, solar-shielded head tilts slightly, and Juno folds her arms over her chest, though the suit makes the movement a little clumsy. "It's all the name I need. Well, as long as you don't have anybody else here named 'George.'" She shrugs in respnose to his question. Whatever's good with anybody else, the gesture seems to say. Suddenly, Biteblade. To her credit Juno doesn't jump out of her skin (or out of her EVA suit). She does take a step back from the Floran's abrupt arrival, though, blinking once or twice at the sudden enthusiastic offer. They can't see it, but behind the shielded visor, the pilot grins. "Why not? I'm always looking for extra jobs. The Syndicate treats me pretty well, all told, but I won't turn my nose up at most work. You're still fabricating this base. I'm sure there's plenty of work to be done." Pause. "'Jerk fish?' Oh. Moonfin, wasn't that their name? I think I've heard them on the broadband once or twice. And I can certainly do all of that. Move cargo, espionage, escort work..." Juno pauses, shrugging. "For the right price, anyway, but don't worry. I won't bleed you lot dry." Well, not completely, anyway. She can't help it if her hobbies are expensive.
Starbound Flotilla	"Eh, sssometime." Biteblade says, shrugging. "Jussst do, after talk maybe." A quick, hissing laugh. "G, gravity unit. Force of down. Tiny robot friend, isss actually white ship friend, and explains ssscience. Don't worry. Jussst bounce, like Floran doesss, or you fall over like silliessst rock." The plant-person is only in their oxygen nanoskin, so it's a bit of a stark contrast here. They go bouncing off, sort of, slowly, demonstrating how to move in low gravity! It's all very intuitive. "I've cleared most of the moon rock out of the basin." George says, gesturing towards the inner side of the round moon base structure. "I'll show you the mining level in a bit." He's gonna get going now! "First thing's first, we're at the inner ring. That's shipyard, I've built that based on Murasame designs, came down from the boss. Same old foundation, just fill in the gaps now." He leads the group out, including Rory, into the inner ring of the facility. You can just barely see the starry cosmos in here, which illuminates the inner ring through access structures that lead out into the open. "Should be big enough to make your own spaceworthy airships, if you can get the stuff together. We'll be using it to retrofit Rory there into a hybrid shuttle after we're done with our own ship upgrades, plus really major repairs. Should be able to put together a Sparrow class on its own if you've got what you need." There's an aside direct to Rory. "Rors, bring the Oddball into orbit sometime and I'll get you all hooked up, enough to land and start a full retrofit." Biteblade follows up with Juno. "Right, jerk fish. Flotilla, have cash. Not lotsss of capital, but lotsss liquid revenue. Can pay, enough probably. Cash, tech, raw ssstuff, gear, info, whatever." A friendly grin, even though Biteblade can't see Blackout's. There's a lot of teeth there! That's a lot of sharpness. Out in the middle of the basin, sitting on one of the docking piers, legs crossed, an astute viewer could see Moonfin, meditating silently in the starlight. It either looks really cool or really pretentious.
Artyom W. Valodjn	There's a... Little robot dog thingy. Artyom peers at it as Rory explains how the 'G' unit works. "Ah," Artyom says, his brow furrowing a bit, "I see. That would make sense. Er--" His gaze shifts towards Biteblade, then back to the robodog, "Pardon, so you are a machine? An... Artificial Intelligence? For a space-ship." The Titan makes a curious noise, "Fascinating. It's good to meet you." He regards Juno, then. "Ah, looking for work? Perhaps you should contact the Murasame Zaibatsu from time to time," he offers, working the sales pitch. "We pay well," Artyom explains, "And our equipment is... quite high end, if you desire compensation in goods rather than just currency." Hopping is something that takes a little getting used to, though. Artyom stumbles a couple of times when he forgets to take a large enough stride. This whole 'weightlessness' thing is just all kinds of odd. "Good. Though it's still somewhat odd to think that we're moving into space travel. I've always wanted to try, myself," Artyom says, hopping along after George and Biteblade. "I may run into physiological problems," like 'not having anything else alive nearby' for instance, "But I believe they can be addressed somehow." He looks up at the inner ring of the facility, and the massive, solid block of material that makes up its base. "This is an extensive facility," Artyom observes with a nod, "To have a mining operation in conjunction with the starport. Are you intending to use the old tunnels for anything once they're mined out? There are some very practical Titanic designs I may be able to share if you wish."
Juno Eclipse	It's a good thing that shielded visor keeps Juno's eyes hidden, because at the moment she's busy staring at Biteblade. An interest in xenobiology means that foreign little critters like the Floran are simply fascinating! Also, it's just as rude to stare in the Galactic Empire as it is anywhere else, so the visor is doubly convenient. She does squint a bit, though. Why isn't he wearing an EVA suit like anybody else? "Hey. Why aren't you wearing a suit?" She taps at her own, indicating the cumbersome thing. "And if you've got something that helps you breathe, where can I get something like that?" Well, actually, Biteblade's a plant. Thing. Maybe Biteblade just doesn't need to breathe. Following after George, she lets her arms hang at her sides, absently regarding the architecture as they go. Certainly plain, but sturdy, it seems. Serviceable, just like any Imperial design. That's good to keep in mind just in case there's anything she might need to improvise with. Oh, and maybe later she'd best hassle George for more technical specs on this place... It's a good thing none of these people are telepaths. Juno Eclipse's mind is a very noisy place, sometimes. White fire, technical specs and engineering problems to work through; always running, running, running. She loves few things more than a good challenge. "Liquid revenue is fine by me," she comments to Biteblade, taking an easy pace in spite of the bulky EVA suit. She's obviously used to moving around and operating in space, at least. "Raw materials are, um, fine." Wow, that's a lot of Very Sharp Teeth. Why does a plant have teeth, anyway? Never mind, that's probably not worth answering, and the answer would probably deprive her of sleep. "Tech, too. Anything you can spare. It's something of a hobby of mine." Well, it's not /completely/ a lie. She's since taken out a hydrospanner, and she's taken to fiddling with it while she walks, perhaps so she isn't concentrating on how sharp and numerous Biteblade's teeth are. The tool is pointed over toward the meditating Hylotl. "What's that all about?" It looks like something Galen might do after a real bloodbath of a mission...
Rory White	"Technically for space stations. Stations don't have engines though, so ships are much more fun!" The thing isn't quite a dog, only the size of a labrador. Lots of manipulating arms that end in useless-looking knobby bulb-shapes come from the top, and it's perfectly dome-shaped otherwise. It's rolling around on six wheels mounted on small articulated legs. The thing's built to handle rough terrain, definitely... Although it is kinda weird. "Rory White, likewise!" A few of the arms do a kind of cheery wave! "Once we have more infrastructure up, Goerge! I'm.. raring to go!"
Starbound Flotilla	"If Floran can do travel in ssspace, Floran thinksss big rock can do travel in ssspace too." Biteblade says, with a firm nod and a thumbs-up at Artyom. "Bird friend, can help put magic ssstuff you need, into ship, whatever isss." A quick shrug! "Think, alwaysss good to expand. More placesss, more bussssinesssss." Woah, there went a LOT of hissing. "Mine out enough of the moonrock and I can expand more, yep. Plenty of room, plenty of profit to expanding just while you do it." George says, casually. "The Erchius is the important bit. Super-fuel. We're pretty sure it's, like, half magic too or something, so you can probably do /something/ weird with it. Just don't drink it." He laughs a bit there. "Seriously. Never." He takes the group to a ladder down. Biteblade offers to hoist Rorybot onto their shoulder, and then leap down happily. "Don't worry, white ship friend! Murasame is fassst, gonna have everything need sssoon! Floran think, probably jussst daysss." They call out cheerfully as they descend. George takes the slower route, sliding down the ladder. They're heading down parallel to where a cargo lift has yet to be installed, to the mining area. As he does, he explains to Juno. "Oxygen nanoskins. Got one myself. Supplies oxygen, keeps you safe from vacuums or rough pressure. I like 'em, but I don't depend on 'em. Can trade some of 'em to you, if you wanna help out getting this place up and running, y'know! Great stuff. Single-use protection, load 'em up on your ship and you're good for hours." And then the issue of the Hylotl. "He does that. Honestly, I thought it was pretentious bullshit for a while, but then he went a week without doing it and wound up fucking awful at his usual bullshit sword nonsense, so hey, maybe it's actually a reasonable thing. Or maybe he's just a pissy tantrum baby."
Artyom W. Valodjn	"Tech we can provide," Artyom says to the smuggler, taking large leaps to try and minimize the number of hops he needs to make, "But that's something that can be hashed out if you decide to pick up any contracts with the company." Mercenary enlistment isn't exactly his area of expertise. This, however, is. "I see," he nods to Rory, "It's always interesting to meet artificial intelligences. We have never developed one on Galianda- there are... issues in the development." Ones he's not particularly familiar with, either. Artyom is a miner and a geomancer, not a magitechnologist. Speaking of which. "Wise. If you mine, you may as well use the tunnels for something, yeah?" Artyom notes. "Are you intending for this place to be a... Home base of sorts for the flotilla as well? Or do you have more commercial intents for the installation?" Artyom's eyes narrow a bit at the mention of Erchius, "Really? Interesting. Is there a signficant amount of that fuel on this moon? I may be interested in acquiring some for study. One of those Nanoskins as well. If space exploration is going to be a business for us, then it would be good to have technology to survive the environment." Biteblade's remarks illicit a slight smile from the Titan. "Ah, it's also a matter of the... material, yes? I do well on solid, living ground, not so much on steel alone. I'm sure we can find a way around it, though. It's a matter of ingenuity and hard work."
Juno Eclipse	It's probably a safe bet that Juno won't try to drink any Erchius any time soon. It probably tastes terrible anyway, and if she wants something that tastes terrible she can just start taking Imperial rations for her meals. She makes her way down the ladder, albeit a little clumsily, owing to the suit. "I would /definitely/ love to get my hands on one of those." Oh, the possibilities are endless. "I'd be more than happy to trade for one of these. Two of these," she adds, correcting herself. "It never hurts to have a spare." The head cocks slightly. "Huh." The head turns to the meditating Moonfin. "Takes all kinds, I guess..."
Rory White	"Nanoskins amaze me. How they work I've yet to figure out, but they're much less hassle than a vacsuit, even if a Smart Vacsuit can be whatever sort of clothing a person needs! ... Or doesn't need. I'm still not sure why clothing is so important." AIs. What do you expect?
Starbound Flotilla	"The Flotilla has good relations so far with the Murasames." George says. "So, not an either-or thing. All up to you, I'm not gonna tell you what to do either way." He slides to the ground and bounces out of the way. "Mining floor!" He says, like an ancient lift-man. "Picked out a nice crater. Big meteor hit a while back, from the looks of it, lots of exposed Erchius just to start off with. I left it there 'cause I'm already topped off, and 'cause it looks pretty goddamn sweet. Take a look." The inner, lower circle of the basin station is wide, going down in steps using a temporary scaffold. With a proper mining setup, this will be a really potent extraction site. "Erchius. Grab some if you want it, bro." He gestures down into the wide, glittering pools of motionless purple-tinted fluid. It glows softly, and while the surface of the liquid is glass-still, the viewer can see it glimmer and shine as if it were in motion. "Don't look too long, you'll start seeing the threads of unreality." George says, casually nudging the others and then laughing. "Hahaha! I'm kidding. Totally harmless. But seriously never drink the stuff." He kicks a stray bit of moon rock off the walkway they're on, down into the Erchius. Instead of making ripples from its point of impact, ripples collect from the edges of the pool and come up to meet the rock before it impacts at all, leaving it still as glass again when the rock sinks below the surface. WEIRD. Biteblade lands and sets Rory down. "Firssst, want to drain thisss deposit. Big one! Then, ussse ssseismographic ssstuff, find more, drain. Easssy peasssy." They say. "Nanossskin, very cheap. Make easssy! Can give sssome, for helping. Exchange! Sssince nice, and helping. Floran HATE ssstuffy EVA sssuit. Can't photosssynthesssize." Then to Artyom specifically, "Big rock friend! Want sssome Erchiusss? Can go, grab now! Or you can grab later." Then a few giggles at Rory. "Floran not really underssstand clothing either. Armor, yeah. Clothing, why? Myssstery." And an aside to Juno! "Not all kindsss. Could do without jerk fish, Floran think. Flotilla, whole galaxy, everything."
Artyom W. Valodjn	"Clothing can be vital depending on the situation," Artyom says with a shrug. "For example, if you are wandering the wastes of Shiva, you should dress warm. If you are attending a festival in Ifrit, do not wear a parka. Hume bodies can only tolerate certain temperature extremes. Otherwise, it's mostly cosmetic." He glances down at the mining operation and... smiles a little more broadly. "Amazing," Artyom breathes, looking out over the vast expanse of impact crater. "And you do not even need to worry about tunnel collapse until you extract too many resources," he rubs at his chin, pondering the layout of the landscape. "I imagine there are very useful metals and other materials buried under there as well. We have equipment to sort that out, should be very profitable." Biteblade gets a nod, then, and then... the Erchius eats a rock. Just, leaps out of the pool and devours it out of the sky. That's kind of disturbing, honestly. Artyom murmurs curiously, before removing a rather large flask from his side. He uncorks the thing and... decides not to use any of his own body parts to do this. Instead he kind of sets it on the rock near the fluid and presses his hands together. Lunar soil shifts away, lowering the bottle half-way into the fluid to secure a goodly amount of the mysterious super-fuel. "This is very interesting," he says, picking up the flask only after he covers it with a thin coating of moon-rock. "I will send this off to the research teams when I return." After taking a small sample for his own studies, of course. "It is that cheap, is it?" Artyom quirks a brow at Biteblade. "Even better. The cheaper the better, in our situation. We will likely be making an... exchange of some kind. If Mister Murasame has not negotiated one already, of course." "...Out of curiousity," Artyom quirks a brow, "What /does/ happen should one drink it?"
Rory White	"Right! But... never mind." Rory's thankfully light in this form. Light enough for Biteblade to carry. In fact, the machine she's jamming right now is -incredibly- light. Is it really made of metal? She falls silenyt only to observe the Erchius and Rock phenomenon... "... W-well... a material that can break the laws of physics... certainly... can break the laws of physics in other ways..." Yeah, THAT has rattled her.
Juno Eclipse	Although she's half-listening to the other conversation, most of the mercenary pilot's attention is focused on the plant person she's following. Erchius is filed away for future study, as it sounds like something just volatile enough for the Empire to want to poke at with a stick. For science, of course. Or something like that. Juno leans forward just slightly, peering into the basin, vaguely purple light reflecting off her visor and colouring her otherwise grey suit. She glances back at George at his quip, then back down long enough to-- The Erchius eats the rock. That is slightly unnerving, or at least it must be, going by the way Juno hastily straightens and takes three very long strides back and away from the nearest rim. Oh god she'd rather be heading into a contested starbase crawling with Rebels than dealing with that nonsense. "N-no, I imagine you can't." Juno's voice over the suit speaker is a littte grainy, but now it sounds a little quiet, as though she's trying not to think about pools of undefined Eldritch Stuff reaching up and grabbing things from the surface above it. "I'd be grateful. I don't particularly care for EVA suits, either, although it isn't as though I have a choice." One last look at the pool. Still as glass, even after that. "Oh, come, now. Surely he's good for something. She? I'm afraid I don't actually know," she asides, quietly. Carefully bending over, she reaches down with a gloved hand and takes hold of a slightly larger moon rock, and hucks it sidelong into the Erchius pool. This time, she's openly staring at the stuff to see if it does the same thing.
Starbound Flotilla	"Ehhh, Floran think, like armor. Armor againssst world, trying to hunt you." Biteblade says to Artyom brightly, with a friendly tone. "Not underssstand clothesss for sssake of clothesss." And then a cheerful hiss. "Profit! Makesss friendsss happy, letsss Floran get thingsss Floran needsss. All good." They bounce happily around the walkway, and then towards the outer rim of the facility. "Nanossskin, expensssive to get manufacturer, easssy for one-ussse. Eassy!" George shakes his head. "Seriously, don't. Basically, the stuff hates people, far as we can tell. It might be sort of alive? I mean it seriously /hates/ people. Poison, zombies, you name it. Harmless in low concentrations. Don't put it in any position where it could kill you. Seriously." Then he squats and pats Rory's drone. "Yep. Crystalize the stuff, it bends reality enough to jump you through space faster than light, plus a couple other things. Great stuff, if you don't get too much of it together in one place! The crystalized type is /way/ more likely to try to kill you." OMINOUS. "Don't worry about the Floran and the Hylotl." George says when they get back to Juno. "Lots of racism! You know, between those two. Old war business, don't worry about it and try not to take either of 'em seriously, I don't think they're actually gonna do anything about it. Moonfin's great with swords and teleporter tech, could get you hooked up with one of your own if you wanna get that as pay for a job sometime." They seem to be moving on towards residential sectors, storage facilities, and space for maintaining the moonbase itself in the upper and lower sections of the outer rim of the base.
Juno Eclipse	"So, um." Juno's voice doesn't quite crack. Really, it's the speaker in her suit. Honest. "Let me get this straight. You're using a fuel derived from a liquid or crystalline entity that very positively shows a distinct hatred for the things that are around it and using it as a fuel, and if you get enough of it together in one location it's going to rise up and kill you horribly somehow." Juno lets that sink in for about five seconds. They can't see it, but she's staring at them with an expression somewhere between incredulousness and alarm. Yes indeed, lots of alarm. "/Why are you using this stuff as fuel/?" Sigh. She reaches up and touches her suit's helmet with her gloved hand, since she can't actually rest her face in her palm right now. It's close enough, on the pretense of turning off the helmet's lamp. "Heh. I see. None of my business, in that case. Let them conduct their war... teleporter tech?" One can almost see the interest clicking into place. "Really? Do you think? Because that would be /wonderful/." If she could reverse-engineer something like that, she'd be famous! Cue record-scratch sound: Except for the part where her records are sealed and she doesn't exist. Siiiigh. Well, at least she can content herself with fiddling around with something like that for her own personal gain. Something like that could be very useful for the messes Starkiller gets himself in and out of, and having a thing like that on the ship would be useful for her, too. Juno folds her arms as they continue on, pointing at what looks like one of the maintenance buildings. "I'm guessing that's where you've got the generators, tools, and other necessities stowed. I won't intrude on you today, but would you mind if I had a look at those, some time later? I'm curious to see what you've got jury-rigged for life support systems and power generators. I might even be able to make a few improvements for you... although I can't make any promises, mind you. Starship engineering is more my specialty."
Artyom W. Valodjn	"Many things can break the laws of physics from world to world," Artyom observes, gingerly pocketing his flask of hate-liquid. "Some things break more laws than others," he goes on to mutter, moving the flask to a slightly less precarious pocket near his right shoulder. "You crystallize this material," he asks, "How? I am... curious." He blinks at the Floran, then. "Mmn, I usually wear... simpler clothes, yes? I do not understand most fashions, myself." Because he is approximately the size of certain species of bear, and you do not typically find clothes fitted to bears. "But much of it is... Decency. We do not like seeing other people nude." It's just weird, okay?
Rory White	"... the Erchius makes ZOMBIES?!" And it's used for starship fuel? Now Rory's not so sure about this stuff.. If she had eyes proper she'd probably be giving both the Fleet Core members a spooked stare, but instead all there is... is her voice. "... You're SURE this is safe enough otherwise...?"
Starbound Flotilla	"It's really great fuel." George says, barking a bit of a laugh. "Seriously. You're not getting it here, the stuff is fantastic. You can use it for basically any kind of nuclear reactor and find it in practically every moon. Love the stuff. Just 'cause it hates you doesn't mean you can't use it. Not like it's alive or anything. Besides, use your basic common sense it's not like it's ever gonna manage to do anything. Just don't /drink/ it. You'll be fine." He winks, but you can't see it behind his helmet. Biteblade handles discussion of the chemistry here. "No, can't cryssstalize it. Not usss. Not sssure how. Only natural cryssstal formation. Not sssure how. But, sssometimes, moon hasss whole lotsss of cryssstal in the inssside. Then, can make lotsss more new FTL enginesss!" George wanders his way into the outer facilities. "Alright, all along the rim here we've got what I've set up for barracks. Yeah, Blackout, drop by a mission, help us out, I'll get Moonfin to hook you up, that's how we roll." The facilities here are bare, awaiting equipment and infrastructure. The trio here can probably all tell what ought to go where, and it's a very solid foundation! Aside from that, though, it's not a lot. "I've got everything running on self-power for now, AMATERASU's gonna be handling most of the equipment in bulk but we still need everything set up and optimized for this moon. if you can help out, Blackout, I'll make sure you're getting a bit of our cut of the flow coming out of here."
Juno Eclipse	Juno slumps forward, just a little, when the dangers of Using Volatile Hateful Eldritch Fuel Stuff seems to be glossed right over. Right. So these people are insane. Well, she's dealt with insane people before, so as long as she stays away from this stuff personally, everything should be fine. "Excellent," she breathes, as though steeling herself to deal with a bunch of space maroon crazies. Well, she probably should have expected it. They /are/ a bunch of space maroon crazies. But that's part of their charm, really. And they do seem to come up with terribly useful things. Shrugging, Juno tilts her head and listens to the further explanations. So, the creepy stuff only forms crystals in a natural environment, which apparently involves being inside any sort of moon. Check. She might question why it can't be repliated in a synthetic environment or the process artificially hastened along, somehow, but even Juno's scientific-oriented mind knows there are Things That Can't Be Explained, such as the many applications of the mystical Force. Galen shoots lightning from his fingertips. However does he manage that? Is it electromagnetics? Obviously the Force does have some pull against more mundane kinetic forces; she's watched him clear a room by shoving its occupants outward against the outer walls-- "I can do that. I've got plenty of other contracts at any given time, but I'm sure I can work something out for the Flotilla." She casts a critical eye to the facilities, though not without a wary look over her shoulder, back where the Erchius sits in its pool, nice and purple and COMPLETELY SINISTER. Ahem. "You might want to expand your facilities. Or find a moon that's not going to rise up and swallow you in your sleep," she adds, pointedly. Yes, that stuff is /incredibly creepy/. Maybe if she tells Vader about it, she'll be ordered to wipe the stuff off the map-- No, he'd probably just order her to collect it to study. Shudder. "Anyway, I'll see what I can do. This tech isn't quite what I'm used to, but I've made something of a specialty out of improvising," she adds, shrugging. "I'm sure I can make a few simple tweaks, at the very least."
Rory White	"I'll be handling some of the electronics infrastructure! You'll be stunned by the results!" Rory exclaims eagerly, rolling along with George. She's quite pleased with the locale so far! "What a curious substance, Biteblade.... and dangerous. I hope there aren't too many of these crystals here if they create zombies!"
Artyom W. Valodjn	"It crystallizes... Only in natural formations? And yet it's dangerous in high concentrations. Fascinating," Artyom muses, staring again out at the vast expanse of purple goo. His brow crinkles, thick lines breaking across his forehead. "Tell me, does it vaporize? More importantly, how dangerous is the stuff when it's at high concentrations in liquid form? I am... Curious." That can possibly be a very bad thing. Maybe. Possibly. It depends on where Artyom goes with it. Hopefully not bad places. He kind of likes rocks. "Ah, yes, right," he nods at the mention of AMATERASU. "Of course you'll need some operators as well. We'll handle that too, naturally," Best way to ensure minimal damage all around, after all. "We eagerly look forward to how well you all can make it perform out here," he nods at Rory and George both, "With all good fortune, we might see an official expansion of AMATERASU's portfolio. I certainly hope so." Artyom's eyes turn upward, peering through a crack in the crater-mine's ceiling. They look beyond, out into the vast darkness of space, and the little winking lights that glitter amidst it. "There are a lot of stars out there, hm? And so many worlds."
Starbound Flotilla	"Oh, no, Erchius is in every moon." George says, helpfully. "At least, around our galaxies. Honestly, you can't get away from the stuff. It's around pretty much every star too!" He leans a little closer. He's intentionally messing with Blackout now, yep. Then he laughs again and leans back. "Don't worry. We're cool with adapting. Our SAIL network can get you up to speed with a full research suite to get you on board with whatever tech you need, works great." Biteblade speaks up when they get towards the outer ring. "Oh, no, cryssstals would be bessst! Lotsss of money to make. Mossst cryssstal moonsss, you get hundredsss of new enginesss from! Really, /really/ good for finding, yesss!" They assure. "Also, zombiesss, isss /kind/ of joke. Meat man friend likesss making joke liesss. But, maybe not lie. Sssort of. Not happen lotsss, though. Mossst timesss, perfect safe." "Liquid, you're not gonna see anything rough. Like I said, just don't drink the stuff. Worst I've seen is spontaneous formation of /really/ radioactive plutonium. Which is honestly pretty good, if you can make sure your dudes are gettin' scrubbed for rads and carrying a geiger, y'know? Anyway, with the mining, the shipyard, and the station facilities outta the way, that's about all for the tour." The group reaches the oputer ring, where George has set up a proper path for workers to get around the facility itself, upper and lower level. And he's even got a nice glassed-in balcony where they can see outside! There's an Earthset. Or, it would be, if it was a familiar planet. Instead, the moon is in orbit around a pleasant little jungle planet with a lot of water, it seems, clustered near a large gas giant. The stars around them are glittering and numerous since this area isn't lit at all. Take a look at the glass and you're liable to get smacked with a sense of scale. For a complete space-newbie, it'll depend on whether or not you're the type who becomes awestruck by the sheer scale of the cosmos, or nihilistic from the miniscule significance of an individual. Several AMATERASU workers may currently be slacking off to gape a bit, if they're vulnerable to the effect. The seasoned veterans of space here are likely long since immune. George speaks up casually. "Lot of space to expand into. Plenty of stars out there. You wanna amp that portfolio up, you're in the right galaxy, pal. We'll see about making this be just the first foothold."
Artyom W. Valodjn	Space. For Galiandans, it's not just the final frontier, it's the frontier that many had never even once thought of exploring. In dreams, perhaps. Those childish dreams that pass when the weight of the world grinds them to dust. But for a brief, fleeting moment, when the alien world below, /spherical/ and distinct from anything that these workers may have ever known, rolls into view, those dreams seem very close at hand. Artyom feels his fingers curl hard into his palms, and a wide smile creeps unbidden across his face. "Yes, but we must make sure to do this one /right./ Make sure it is permanent, make sure it is strong. The first step is always the hardest, but always worth it," he rumbles in agreement, his eyes staring at the horizon of the world far below. "It's the first step in a long journey," he breathes. Possibly even a never-ending journey. A journey... To the stars.